I'd advise waiting for further opinions on this but I believe active pickups are generally lower output than passive ones, so I'm not sure how the preamp would cope with having a higher input than it's designed for.

Indeed, inside an active pickup is a very, very low-output one. That is why they need the preamp. The lower output means you get far more harmonic detail and a wider, more even frequency response, which is how actives get their tone.

Despite what Seymour Duncan claim, adding the Blackout preamp to a random passive pickup will not give it any of the characteristics of an actual active design. It will just increase the overall output, including the level of noise you get. You don't get the wider frequency response, you don't get the lower noise and you don't capture more harmonics. Basically, it's no different from getting a volume or EQ pedal and simply setting the overall level of your signal to +5dB. Even if you did use a lower-output pickup with it, that's still wound much hotter than the coils that are inside an active design, not to mention the stronger magnetic field.

If you want active sound, you need to get active pickups. If you want passive sound but want to drive your amp harder, use an overdrive, volume, EQ or boost pedal. The Blackout preamp is a very silly, ineffective solution to a problem which does not exist.

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Indeed, inside an active pickup is a very, very low-output one. That is why they need the preamp. The lower output means you get far more harmonic detail and a wider, more even frequency response, which is how actives get their tone.

Despite what Seymour Duncan claim, adding the Blackout preamp to a random passive pickup will not give it any of the characteristics of an actual active design. It will just increase the overall output, including the level of noise you get. You don't get the wider frequency response, you don't get the lower noise and you don't capture more harmonics. Basically, it's no different from getting a volume or EQ pedal and simply setting the overall level of your signal to +5dB. Even if you did use a lower-output pickup with it, that's still wound much hotter than the coils that are inside an active design, not to mention the stronger magnetic field.

If you want active sound, you need to get active pickups. If you want passive sound but want to drive your amp harder, use an overdrive, volume, EQ or boost pedal. The Blackout preamp is a very silly, ineffective solution to a problem which does not exist.

thank you, the kind of answers that I like so gonna look for pups for that guitar